AIDS Epidemic
Last night ABC news aired another hack news story about AIDS in America.
The word 'Epidemic' was used many many times in the piece. 'Pandemic' was even used more than once.
An epidemic is (according to Webster's:
1 affecting or tending to affect a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time.
2 a : excessively prevalent
I looked it up on the CDC website this morning. From before 1982 through 2002 there were 859,000 cases of AIDS reported. If we assume a population of 280 million which is a low estimate, that means the affected population is .3%
The peak was in 1993 with 104,713 cases. By 2002, the number of cases dropped 58% of that.
That doesn't look like an epidemic to me.
Don't get me wrong, I believe HIV and AIDS are terrible diseases that hurt a lot of people and families. Most cases are due to behavioral choices which do need to be addressed.
But the 'epidemic' claim is greatly exaggerated.
I should know better and expect less from ABC.
The word 'Epidemic' was used many many times in the piece. 'Pandemic' was even used more than once.
An epidemic is (according to Webster's:
1 affecting or tending to affect a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time.
2 a : excessively prevalent
I looked it up on the CDC website this morning. From before 1982 through 2002 there were 859,000 cases of AIDS reported. If we assume a population of 280 million which is a low estimate, that means the affected population is .3%
The peak was in 1993 with 104,713 cases. By 2002, the number of cases dropped 58% of that.
That doesn't look like an epidemic to me.
Don't get me wrong, I believe HIV and AIDS are terrible diseases that hurt a lot of people and families. Most cases are due to behavioral choices which do need to be addressed.
But the 'epidemic' claim is greatly exaggerated.
I should know better and expect less from ABC.
posted by Son of Adam @ 7:10 AM
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